Alex Kotlowitz Story
Profile
Alex Kotlowitz is a reputed and award-winning journalist and author of American origin. He is best-known for his book, There Are No Children Here, which was a national best-seller. Kotlowitz was conferred the George Foster Peabody Award in radio, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in print, the George Polk Award in television and a Columbia duPont Award in radio and television.
Kotlowitz's stories have appeared in several publications; The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Granta, The Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone and Slate.
Childhood
Kotlowitz grew up in New York City. His father, Robert Kotlowitz was New York public television executive and the editor of the Harper magazine. Kotlowitz attended the Wesleyan University.
Early Career
Alex Kotlowitz started his career as a journalist in a small alterntive weekly in Lansing, Michigan. He was a staff writer on The Wall Street Journal in 1984 and worked with the publication for seven years. Kotlowitz wrote regularly for The New York Times Magazine and This American Life of public radio. His writings have featured in several publications; The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Granta, The Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone and Slate. Kotlowitz's stories appeared in PBS and in NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition and in numerous anthologies.
Heights
Alex Kotlowitz authored There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America, The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death and America's Dilemma and Never a City So Real. His novel, There Are No Children Here became a national bestseller and was chosen by The New York Public Library among the “150 most important books of the twentieth century”. It was declared as a “Notable Book of the Year” by The New York Times. The novel bagged the Carl Sandburg Award, Christopher Award and the Helen B. Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism. The novel, There Are No Children Here was made into a television film.
Kotlowitz wrote a play along with Amy Drozdowska , An Unobstructed View, which debuted in Chicago in 2005.
Kotlowitz's list of honours is lengthy and impressive. His novel, The Other Side of the River was conferred the Heartland Prize and the Great Lakes Booksellers Award for Nonfiction. His documentary, The Interrupters premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. Kotlowitz received critical acclaim for the documentry, which he made in collboration with Steve James. It was aired on PBS's Frontline. The film was ranked among the “top 10 films of 2011” by The New Yorker and Entertainment Weekly. It won an Emmy, a Cinema Eye Award and the Independent Spirit Award for “Best Documentary Feature”.
Kotlowitz enjoys a residential post as a writer at the Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. He is a guest professor at the University of Notre Dame and Dartmouth College. Kotlowitz has received eight honorary degrees. Kotlowitz is a “Distinguished Visitor” at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Personal Life
Alex Kotlowitz with his wife, Maria Woltjen and two children, Mattie and Lucas live on the out-skirts of Chicago. His wife is the director of Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. Kotlowitz is an alumnus of the Ragdale Foundation.
Recognitions
Alex Kotlowitz was conferred the George Foster Peabody Award in radio, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in print, the George Polk Award in television and a Columbia duPont Award in radio and television. He was accorded the John LaFarge Memorial Award for Interracial Justice by Catholic Interracial Council of New York.
